414-8 floor board question

[Mustang67ford 234]

The floorboards on my mower have diamond plate bolted to them.  Is this correct?  I have the floorboards all cleaned up and painted but wondering what should be there.  Concerned the diamond plate would allow water to get trapped under them when washing mower off and rust out the floor boards over time.

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by Mustang67ford

[SylvanLakeWH 26,156]

Not factory correct but they work and look good! 

[Mustang67ford 234]

16 minutes ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

Not factory correct but they work and look good! 

What would have been factory?  I would assume they were not just the painted boards.

[Achto 27,919]

From the factory it would have had rubber or sand grit glued to the running board. I like the diamond plate. Make sure that the paint under the diamond plate is good and you should not have a rust issue.

[953 nut 56,187]

Skate Board Grip tape is about the best material for running boards. Comes in all colors and some very interesting patterns.

 

[Lee1977 6,874]

There may be a lot of rust under there. I remover the rubber treads from my 520 because it was rusting under them. 

[clueless 3,012]

That would have come with a rectangular thin rubber mat that was glued (the best way to do it) to the floor board. I believe there is a guy on ebay that sell repop ones. Somewhere around the 90's Wheel Horse like most other garden tractor companies started putting thick soft mats on the floor boards because what we all need when working our tractors is a nice cushy place for our feet and a cup holder . The problem with those they are not glued down, just have tabs that push through holes in the floorboard, so dirt gets between them a you wash you tractor, that turns the dirt into a thin layer of mud under them, a petri dish for rust . About ten years ago I kinda inherited a '93 JD GT262 from a friend who died, I didn't want it but his wife said he would want you to have it because I would take care of his baby like he did, I couldn't say no. Even thought this tractor was 18 years old it looked just like it came of the show room floor, he had it serviced every year and and washed it after every time he used it even put a coat of wax on it now and then, and always garaged. So I put in the back of my shop and start and drive it a couple of times a year and park it and dust it off. About 2 years ago I decided to replace the rusting bolts holding the rubber mats to the floor boards with some SS bolts, Terry would have already done that. After removing the bolts I removed the mats  it was like lifting the floor mat on a beautiful unrestored garage keep car and seeing a lot of concrete floor under them, it took me a couple of weeks to get the floor boards back to close they should look like. My point to all of this rambling, ( it is Sunday morning and I'm on my third cup of coffee with nothing else to do) is if you wash your tractor and it has the newer mats, you may want to check under them now then. Remember, Rust Never Sleeps .

[Mustang67ford 234]

All good info.  The floorboards on mine cleaned up very well, just had surface rust.  I have them freshly painted.  I do like the diamond plate look.  I can see the diamond plate and the rubber mats trapping the water though.  The skateboard mat is a good idea.  I guess this will be something to ponder over for a while though I am leaning towards putting the diamond plate back on.

Edited January 16, 2022 by Mustang67ford

[76c12091520h 3,687]

[edgro 677]

I did mine with layers of paint and abrasive sand. Tape it off good, layer black paint and sprinkle the sand in it, top with more paint

[Jeff-C175 7,203]

This is the grip tape that I used on my 175, I figured that if this cheap stuff didn't hold up I'd just peel it off and try something else.  Well... it's holding up just fine so far.  

 

I think the trick to making it stick is to make sure the part is absolutely clean and use a HEAT GUN to warm it up quite a bit so the glue really sticks.  I pressed it down with a 'seam roller' too.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086R7QPDW/

 

[Handy Don 12,663]

18 hours ago, Jeff-C175 said:

This is the grip tape that I used on my 175, I figured that if this cheap stuff didn't hold up I'd just peel it off and try something else.  Well... it's holding up just fine so far.  

 

I think the trick to making it stick is to make sure the part is absolutely clean and use a HEAT GUN to warm it up quite a bit so the glue really sticks.  I pressed it down with a 'seam roller' too.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086R7QPDW/

 

 

Yep, skateboard grip is my fave on top of newly painted footrests. Warming the grip first does help and I used a rubber mat and me standing on it to press it down after using the roller. it sticks like nobody's business.

[Jeff-C175 7,203]

13 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

sticks like nobody's business

 

Yep... you don't get a second try if you don't get it where you want it!   So rehearse your moves before you peel the backing off !!!

[953 nut 56,187]

59 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

Yep... you don't get a second try if you don't get it where you want it!   So rehearse your moves before you peel the backing off !!!

Best bet is to remove the running boards and have a little extra to trim off afterwards.